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Legendary cricketer Sachin Tendulkar, who was conferred the Bharat Ratna, India's highest civilian award, here on Tuesday, said though he has retired from all forms of cricket he will continue to bat for India and will give the country "a reason to smile".

The cricketing legend was accompanied by his wife Anjali and daughter Sara as he received the award from President Pranab Mukherjee in a glittering ceremony at the Durbar Hall in Rashtrapati Bhavan. Eminent scientist Dr CNR Rao was also bestowed the Bharat Ratna.

"I am happy with the love and affection that I have got over the years. Fortunate to be born in this country. I know my cricket is over but I will continue to bat for India and will give the country a reason to smile," said Tendulkar, who was nominated to the Rajya Sabha last year.

Tendulkar dedicated the honour to his mother and all mothers of the country, who have sacrificed their personal aspirations so that the dreams of their children are realised.

Sachin alongside his wife Anjali

"This is the biggest honour. Extremely delighted at getting this award. I want to reiterate again that I want to dedicate this award to my mother and all other mothers of India, who sacrificed their aspirations so that their children's dreams come true," said Tendulkar.

Tendulkar is the most accomplished cricketer in the world, finishing his illustrious career with a fair clutch of records. He has 15,921 runs from a record 200 Test matches at an average of 53.58 and 51 centuries.

He scored 18,426 runs from 463 ODIs with an average of 44.83 including 49 centuries. He was also the first to score a double hundred in the 50-over format.

Eminent scientist CNR Rao, who was also conferred the Bharat Ratna on Tuesday, feels India is performing well in the field of science but other majors like China and South Korea are doing better.

Rao feels that other Indian scientists should also get the Bharat Ratna which would act as a boost for the young researchers.

"Well, this is fantastic, my own country has given me this award. This is a big thing. I have been a professor of science for 55 years and I have got so many awards in the past, but this is the best. I will cherish this award the most in my life," Rao said.

Rao(79) is the fourth scientist after CV Raman, M. Visvesvaraya and former president APJ Abdul Kalam to get the Bharat Ratna.

Sachin and CNR Rao during the awards ceremony

Asked if Indian scientists have got their due credit, Rao said: "Only two working scientists, me and Dr. Kalam, have got the award. I feel other scientists should also get the award. But I am happy that this year 14 people from the field of science have been selected for the Padma Awards. This is good for the country."

When pointed out that no Indian scientist has got the Nobel Prize in the recent past, Rao said India has achieved a lot of success without the Nobel recognition. Nobel laureate CV Raman (physics) is the only Indian to get the coveted Nobel Prize while Hargobind Khurana (medicine), Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar (physics) and Venkatraman Ramakrishnan (chemistry) were all India-born American citizens.

"There are so many eminent people who have not got the Nobel Prize. But what we have to see is that whether we are competitive in the field of science. We are doing good, but others like China and South Korea are doing better. We are also investing a lot of money in the areas of scientific research but lot more needs to be done," he said.

Rao also revealed his future plans and said he is still striving for excellence.

"Personal success has no end like excellence has no limit. As long as God gives me the strength, I will keep working. I am working on two-three new things in the last few years and hopefully they will benefit India," said Rao.

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